--- title: "Robert E. Mercer — author profile and papers · Implicature" description: "Robert E. Mercer, Western University: 3 papers on Elamur Research (1988–2020), h-index 20 — affiliations, topics, co-authors and who cites…" canonical: "https://research.elamur.ai/free/en/authors/robert-e-mercer/" --- [Elamur Research](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://research.elamur.ai/free/en/authors/robert-e-mercer/) [home](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [authors](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/authors/) / Robert E. Mercer # Robert E. Mercer Robert E. Mercer has 3 papers in our library, in 1988–2020, most of them on [Implicature](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/topics/implicature/), [Reasoning](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/topics/reasoning/), [English](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/topics/english/); often with [Lu Xiao](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/authors/lu-xiao/). 3 papers in our library · 1988–2020 [OpenAlex](https://openalex.org/A5056001196) · [ORCID](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0080-715X) · [**h-index 20**](https://openalex.org/authors/A5056001196) · [149 works](https://openalex.org/works?filter=author.id:A5056001196) · [1,453 citations](https://openalex.org/works?filter=author.id:A5056001196&sort=cited_by_count:desc) OpenAlex, 2026-10-14 [📄 3 works in our library](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/authors/robert-e-mercer/#papers) · [🔗 Cited 12 times in our library](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/authors/robert-e-mercer/cited-by/) · [⭐ Paper Stars ranking: #8509](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/paper-stars/page/86/#star-8509) The profile is the library's match of the name; two people with one name are not always told apart. Elsewhere: [Google Scholar](https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=search_authors&mauthors=Robert+E.+Mercer) · [Semantic Scholar](https://www.semanticscholar.org/search?q=Robert+E.+Mercer) · [dblp](https://dblp.org/search?q=Robert+E.+Mercer) · [ACL Anthology](https://aclanthology.org/search/?q=Robert+E.+Mercer) ## Affiliations [🎓**Western University** London · Canada 1985–2026 · 121 papersEmployment since 1985 · Professor Emeritus, Computer Science*current*](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/universities/western-university/) · [🎓**University of Waterloo** Waterloo · Canada 2019–2020 · 4 papers](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/universities/university-of-waterloo/) · [🔬**Vector Institute** Toronto · Canada 2022–2023 · 3 papers](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/labs/vector-institute/) From the bylines of their papers (OpenAlex, 2026-10-14), ORCID and Wikidata; institutions on papers are matched by machine. 2 more institutions on single bylines are not listed. ## Fields, topics and concepts Of its works in our library, with the number of works on each. 📚 Shelves 6 The field of science this work belongs to (OpenAlex fields).[Arts and Humanities · 3 works](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/arts-and-humanities/) · [Computer Science · 3 works](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/computer-science/) · [Artificial Intelligence · 3 works](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/computer-science/artificial-intelligence/) · [Language and Linguistics · 3 works](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/arts-and-humanities/language-and-linguistics/) · [Literature and Literary Theory · 1 work](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/arts-and-humanities/literature-and-literary-theory/) · [Philosophy · 1 work](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/arts-and-humanities/philosophy/) 🧭 Topics 3 Research subjects and languages the work is about.[Implicature · 2 works](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/topics/implicature/) · [English · 1 work](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/topics/english/) · [Reasoning · 1 work](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/topics/reasoning/) ## Works by year ### 2020s [**2020** 1 paper](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/authors/robert-e-mercer/year/2020/) ### 1990s [**1991** 1 paper](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/authors/robert-e-mercer/year/1991/) ### 1980s [**1988** 1 paper](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/authors/robert-e-mercer/year/1988/) ## Papers The most cited first (OpenAlex and our library). 1. **[A Lexicon-Based Approach for Detecting Hedges in Informal Text](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/islam-2020-lexicon-based-approach-detecting-hedges/)** *(2020 · 15 citations)* The authors want sentence-level hedge detection in spontaneous talk rather than in scientific prose, using eight translated oral-history interviews. 2. **[Presuppositions and Default Reasoning: A Study in Lexical Pragmatics](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/mercer-1991-presuppositions-default-reasoning-study-lexical/)** *(1991 · 7 citations)* Some words carry meaning that survives negation. Both "My cousin is a bachelor" and, in its usual reading, "My cousin is not a bachelor" suggest that the cousin is an adult male. These presuppositions can still disappear: an added remark about a three-year-old cancels them, and a disjunction with "spinster" blocks… 3. **[Solving Some Persistent Presupposition Problems](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/mercer-1988-solving-some-persistent-presupposition-problems/)** *(1988 · 7 citations)* The paper tackles a set of counterexamples that Soames (1979, 1982) raised against Gazdar's 1979 account of how presuppositions project from complex sentences. ## Co-authors here 1 co-author with a page, the most papers together first. - [Lu Xiao](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/authors/lu-xiao/) ## Venues Where their works here were published, the most works first, with the editions of those that have a page. - [International Conference on Computational Linguistics (COLING)](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/coling/): [COLING 1988](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/coling/1988/) - [Lecture notes in computer science](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/lecture-notes-in-computer-science/): [Lecture notes in computer science 1991](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/lecture-notes-in-computer-science/1991/) - [Language Resources and Evaluation Conference (LREC)](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/lrec/): [LREC 2020](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/lrec/2020/) - [Workshop on Argumentation Mining](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/workshop-on-argumentation-mining/) ## Cited by Papers of our library cite their works 12 times (of the 149,439 papers whose bibliographies we read); [5 citing papers with a page here →](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/authors/robert-e-mercer/cited-by/). Updated 30 October 2026